Abortion: Television Advertisements

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have received since 15 May about barring television advertisements for abortion services.

Lord Shutt of Greetland: At 26 May, 603 pieces of electronic correspondence have been received from members of the public about television advertisements for post-conception advice services. Five pieces of correspondence on the same subject have been received from MPs, and none has been received from Members of the House of Lords. Of the total received, 607 representations oppose the showing of television advertisements for post-conception advice services, including abortion services.

Alcohol: Pricing

Lord Avebury: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, in examining the likely yields of different duty increases on alcohol and associated decreases in consumption, they intend to use the University of Sheffield's model from their Independent review of the effects of alcohol pricing and promotion.

Lord Sassoon: As set out in the coalition agreement, the Government are committed to reviewing alcohol pricing and taxation to tackle binge drinking. Officials are aware of the findings of the University of Sheffield. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) currently uses a fairly similar model to the Sheffield work. However, the Sheffield model was designed to investigate the relationship between alcohol pricing, promotions and alcohol-related harm. HMRC and HM Treasury need a model to estimate revenue implications of duty rate changes and so use their own model designed specifically for this purpose.

Armed Forces: Aircraft

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many personnel who are not qualified as pilots are being evaluated or trained or both to operate the RAF Reaper.

Lord Astor of Hever: Currently all personnel qualified to operate the Reaper aircraft are qualified RAF pilots. The feasibility of training non-pilot officers to operate remotely piloted air systems is being examined in a series of trials, but these will not qualify non-pilot officers to operate MQ-9 Reaper.

Armed Forces: Aircraft

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many personnel are qualified to operate the RAF Reaper as remote "pilots".

Lord Astor of Hever: There are currently 25 RAF personnel qualified to pilot the Reaper remotely piloted aircraft.

Armed Forces: Aircraft

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles there are in the RAF inventory; and what plans they have to acquire more.

Lord Astor of Hever: Three Reaper remotely piloted aircraft are currently in service with the RAF; a fourth Reaper was lost in an accident in April 2008. A further two Reaper are on order. The feasibility of further increasing the size of the Reaper force is under active consideration.

Armed Forces: Aircraft

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty's Government in what percentage of missions this year the RAF Reaper force has released explosive munitions.

Lord Astor of Hever: Just over 7 per cent of RAF Reaper operational missions undertaken in Afghanistan since 1 January 2010 have employed the release of precision-guided weapons.
	Reaper is not an autonomous system and target engagement is commanded by the mission crew in the ground control station. The rules of engagement used for Reaper weapon releases are identical to those used for manned combat aircraft and strict measures are enforced to minimise the risk of collateral damage, including civilian casualties.

BBC: Independence

Lord Fearn: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to review the independence of the BBC.

Lord Shutt of Greetland: The Government are committed to maintaining the independence of the BBC and have no plans to review this.

Community Broadband Network

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will ask the National Audit Office to investigate the formation, management and accounts of Community Broadband Network (CBN); whether they will ask the Financial Services Authority to investigate the compliance of CBN with the company rules lodged upon its formation; whether they will place accounts of CBN for each year since its formation in the Library of the House; how much money they and Government agencies have paid to CBN in each year since its formation; for what purpose; and which department paid the money in each case.

Baroness Wilcox: No evidence has been presented to the Government that suggests any need for the National Audit Office to investigate CBN. CBN's filings with the FSA are publicly available and up to date and no reason or evidence has been presented that would require an investigation. The Government do not hold accounts of CBN which is an Industrial and Provident Society.
	The former DTI and Defra paid £30,000 each to Ruralnet to set up CBN in 2003 and 2004. The Countryside Agency and Defra paid £30,000 and £42,500 respectively in 2004 and 2005 to support a mentoring scheme for local broadband projects. The Countryside Agency paid £8,000 in 2005 to CBN to support part of the development of the CBN website. This amounts to £140,500.

Crime: Age of Responsibility

Lord Corbett of Castle Vale: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will commission a review of the age of criminal responsibility.

Lord McNally: The Government have no plans to commission a review of the age of criminal responsibility.

Department for Transport: Consultants

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government what projects the Department for Transport has awarded to design consultants Mouchel in each of the past five years; how much each was worth; and how the contracts were evaluated.

Earl Attlee: All of the appointments made by the Department for Transport for design consultancy to Mouchel over the past five years have operated as framework agreements. During the period the total number of orders and value of work placed through these arrangements is as follows:
	
		
			 Framework Agreement Number of Orders Value 2005-06 
			 Design Services Framework - Midlands 8 689,046 
			 Northern Framework for Design Services 9 2,058,917 
			 2006-07   
			 Design Services Framework - Midlands 1 1,136,769 
			 Project Support Framework 17 5,938,659 
			 2007-08   
			 Project Support Framework 20 5,712,247 
			 2008-09   
			 Project Support Framework 34 11,684,516 
			 Technology Design Consultancy Framework 5 5,806,955 
			 2009-10   
			 Project Support Framework 35 13,172,327 
			 Technology Design Consultancy Framework 12 9,390,148 
			 2010-11   
			 Project Support Framework 2 1,574,653 
		
	
	The UK Government policy is that public procurement should be based on value for money (VFM) rather than just the price. VFM is defined as the best mixture of whole-life cost and quality needed to meet the need. Therefore, it is the department's policy to award orders and contracts on the basis of the "most economically advantageous tender" in accordance with the criteria set out in the parent framework agreement. For example, the selection criteria for the project support framework and the technology design framework are a blend of product, service, right-first-time, cost, time and safety. The selection criteria for the design services framework are a blend of organisation, staff and approach.

Department for Transport: Consultants

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government how the Department for Transport assesses suitability and quality in selecting design consultants.

Earl Attlee: The UK Government policy is that public procurement should be based on value for money (VFM) rather than just the price. VFM is defined as the best mixture of whole-life cost and quality needed to meet the need. Therefore, it is the Department for Transport's policy to award orders and contracts on the basis of the "most economically advantageous tender".
	Where possible, the department uses framework agreements to procure design consultancy services. The evaluation criteria used for awarding orders and contracts are in accordance with the criteria set out in the parent framework agreement.

Duchy of Cornwall

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Duchy of Cornwall is a public authority for the purposes of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (SI 2004/3391) and the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Lord McNally: The Duchy of Cornwall is not a public authority for the purposes of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Elections: British Nationals

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will introduce legislative proposals so that British citizens who have worked overseas for more than 15 years in international organisations have the same right to vote in parliamentary elections as members of the Armed Forces, Crown servants and employees of the British Council.

Lord McNally: The Government are aware that representations have been made on behalf of those working in some international organisations abroad that they should continue to be able to vote after a period of 15 years continuous residence overseas. The Government have not yet considered the way forward on this issue.

Human Rights

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will give effect to the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in Hirst v United Kingdom by enabling prisoners (other than those guilty of very serious crimes) to vote in parliamentary elections, in accordance with the recommendation of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

Lord McNally: The Government are considering afresh the best way forward on the issue of prisoner voting rights.

Human Rights

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether changes are needed to domestic law (apart from those made by the Equality Act 2010) to enable the United Kingdom to ratify Protocol No 7 to the European Convention on Human Rights.

Lord McNally: As I indicated in my Written Answer of 3 June (Official Report, cols. WA 7 and 8), the Government will consider this issue in due course.

Internet: Broadband

Baroness Byford: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan to roll out high-speed broadband to rural areas.

Baroness Wilcox: Rollout of broadband is first and foremost a matter for private sector investors. However, as stated in the Coalition's joint programme for Government, we will seek to introduce superfast broadband in remote areas at the same time as in more populated areas. On 8 June, the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport set out the Government's plans for ensuring the UK has the best superfast broadband network in Europe by the end of the Parliament. These plans include enabling access to existing infrastructure to reduce the cost of deployment. Further, the Secretary of State proposed three market testing projects schemes for superfast broadband in rural areas. The full speech can be read at http://www.culture.gov.uldnews/ministers speeches/7132.aspx.

Mutual Societies

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will place copies of the rules, reports, annual accounts and lists of committee members of companies registered as mutual societies in the Library of the House when requested by a member of the House.

Lord Sassoon: Over 8,000 mutual societies are registered with the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Each of these societies is required to place copies of rules, annual accounts and lists of committee members with the FSA and these are public documents and can be accessed by members of the public. The contact e-mail for information is: mutual.societiesfcc/ccc@fsa.gov.uk.

Parliamentary Constituencies

Lord Corbett of Castle Vale: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to restrict access to judicial review and shorten the time available for public hearings over proposals to alter parliamentary constituency boundaries.

Lord McNally: The Government have announced that legislation will be introduced to provide for the introduction of the alternative vote in the event of a positive result in the referendum, and the creation of fewer and more equal-sized constituencies. Further details will be announced in due course.

Pensions

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the estimated annual saving if the state pension age is raised from 65 to 66.

Lord Freud: Increasing the state pension age overnight for both men and women from 65 to 66 in 2020 would generate around £4 billion annual net benefit saving (compared to currently legislated policies) in 2020, around £5 billion in each of 2021, 2022 and 2023, and around £3 billion in 2024. This estimate relates to benefit expenditure and does not incorporate any broader economic effects that such a policy might have.
	Notes: Estimates have been rounded to the nearest £ billion, are in 2010-11 prices and relate to the UK benefit case load.

Prisoners: Personality Disorders

Lord Corbett of Castle Vale: To ask Her Majesty's Government what has been the cost of the programme to treat prisoners assessed as having dangerous and severe personality disorder; and how many prisoners have undergone treatment since the programme began in 2001.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their response to the paper by Professor Peter Tyrer of Imperial College, London, published in Medicine, Science and the Law, that there is "scarce evidence" of improvement in outcomes of prisoners assessed as having dangerous and severe personality disorder after treatment in the four secure units in England where the programme operates.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will establish a review of the effectiveness of the programme to treat prisoners assessed as having dangerous and severe personality disorder.

Lord McNally: The Ministry of Justice and Department of Health have worked together to establish a range of services for dangerous offenders with severe personality disorder in prisons, high and medium-secure National Health Service (NHS) facilities and the community. The programme was announced in 2001 as a commitment to provide at least 300 places for offenders who fell into the dangerous and severe personality disorder category. Across the NHS and the National Offender Management Service, the current annual revenue expenditure incurred is £60 million. This cost includes the provision of assessment, treatment, management, accommodation, a research and evaluation programme, and for the central joint policy team responsible for the development and management of the programme. The total number of admissions into the dangerous and severe personality disorder (DSPD) programme to date is 456 individuals (source: DSPD Common Data Set, as managed at Broadmoor Hospital, which excludes a small number of females held in a DSPD unit at Low Newton prison).
	The DSPD programme was established to pilot methods of working with the most dangerous offenders and patients in society. The programme has considered a range of challenges in terms of the assessment, treatment and the management of this most difficult population. Its purpose has always been to improve the mental health outcomes and reduce the risk of serious harm presented by this group. Progression from the DSPD units into mainstream criminal justice and mental health services is also a core component of the programme. Services being piloted through the programme have been in full operation since 2005; treatment is expected to last between three to five years, and therefore, only a few prisoners and patients have progressed from the units. Consequently it is too early to determine improvement in outcomes for prisoners and patients across the programme.
	There are two linked evaluations of the DSPD programme which are due to report shortly to the stakeholder departments; the Ministry of Justice and the Department of Health. The first evaluation is being carried out by the University of Oxford and focuses on treatment offered and responses to treatment at the four DSPD sites in high secure hospitals and the high secure prison estate. The second evaluation, by Imperial College, is concerned with staffing and organisation within the four sites. These two studies will provide a preliminary assessment of effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the DSPD Programme and will help inform the work to consider the strategic options for the future provision of DSPD and personality disorder services for offenders. These are due to be published in the autumn.

Prisons

Baroness Stern: To ask Her Majesty's Government in how many prisons the certified normal accommodation is (a) 750-1,000, (b) 1,001-1,500, and (c) more than 1,500.

Lord McNally: On 30 April 2010 there were:
	25 prisons with a certified normal accommodation between 750 and 1,000 places; 12 prisons with a certified normal accommodation between 1,001 and 1,500 places; and one prison with a certified normal accommodation of over 1,500 places (HMP Isle of Wight-a cluster prison made up of separate prison sites at Camp Hill, Parkhurst and Albany).

Refugee and Migrant Justice

Lord Avebury: To ask Her Majesty's Government what arrangements they are making to find legal representatives for clients who will be without representation if Refugee and Migrant Justice closes, and in which areas Refugee and Migrant Justice is the sole or main provider.

Lord McNally: The Legal Services Commission (LSC) will implement provisions and issue further guidance to ensure the safeguarding of the legal aid fund and the client should Refugee and Migrant Justice (RMJ) close their offices. The LSC will liaise with any appointed agents to facilitate an orderly referral to alternative quality-assured, accredited legal providers. It is expected that clients, and also caseworkers, will be able to transfer to other organisations. The LSC tender exercise for asylum and immigration contracts from October has seen significant interest in expansion by providers.
	There are three areas where RMJ is currently the sole provider; these are the Kent Coast, Portsmouth and Isle of Wight and Suffolk. However, should RMJ close its offices in these areas, the LSC will seek additional providers to ensure the service that RMJ supplied continues.

Refugee and Migrant Justice

Lord Crisp: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effect of their late payment of bills on the charity Refugee and Migrant Justice.

Lord McNally: The Legal Services Commission (LSC) does not accept that payments are being made late. Standard monthly payments are received by all contracted providers which are then reconciled periodically by the LSC against bills submitted for cases that have either closed or have reached the stage where a claim may be made.
	The current billing arrangements enable both immigration and asylum providers to claim costs in a reasonable period for the vast majority of their cases. The LSC analysis of claims submitted suggests that approximately 80 per cent of stage claims are made within six months of a file being opened and approximately 90 per cent are made within nine months.

Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have issued guidance on whether it is necessary, under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (SI 1995/3163), to report an accident following which the person injured returns to light duties within three working days.

Lord Freud: Guidance on the statutory position has been issued by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). All injuries to workers from an accident connected with work that result in them being "unable to do their full range of normal duties for more than three days" must be reported. This advice is published in:
	HSE's booklet, A Guide to the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and DangerousOccurrences Regulations 1995 (ref L 73), that was first published in 1996;on the HSE website at http://www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/riddor.htm#what andin the introductory notes to the accident book that HSE publishes for employers.
	In addition, this advice is given in a range of industry and sector-specific guidance published by HSE.
	If an employer is unsure whether any incident should be reported, they can telephone (0845 300 9923) HSE's Incident Contact Centre for advice.

Vehicles: Automatic Plate Recognition

Lord Corbett of Castle Vale: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many prosecutions for (a) motoring offences, and (b) other categories of offences there have been in England and Wales in the last three years for which figures are available through the use of vehicle registration number-plate recognition cameras.

Lord McNally: The court proceedings database holds information on defendants proceeded against, found guilty and sentenced for criminal offences in England and Wales. However, specific information on offences beyond descriptions provided by the statutes under which prosecutions are brought is not held. It is not possible to separately identify from centrally available data those offences proceeded against arising from the use of automatic number-plate recognition cameras.